Chapter 49
Luo Sanrong almost staggered back to the eunuch hall.
In the copper crane incense burner in the corner of the hall, the calming incense was burning to its last bit. The curling green smoke wrapped around the beams and pillars, but it could not suppress the surging heat in her chest.
She leaned her back against the cold vermilion pillar, and her fingertips rose uncontrollably and gently touched her lips.
The touch still lingers there.
“Boom boom… boom boom…”
The sound of her heartbeat was particularly clear in the hall, causing pain in her ribs and even disrupting her breathing.
She took a deep breath, trying to suppress the inappropriate throbbing, but her image at that time flashed before her eyes again.
Luo Sanrong suddenly withdrew his hand and rubbed his fingertips hard on the hem of his sleeve, as if this could erase the inappropriate touch.
But her heart refused to obey her wishes and continued to beat like a drum, making her ears hot and even her neck turn a thin layer of red.
While she was lost in thought, Wei Dao passed by her and saw her appearance and asked, "What happened?"
Wei Dao didn't expect that this sentence would cause such a strong reaction from Luo Sanrong. Luo Sanrong explained, "Wei Dao, what you said is a bit too much."
Otoko asked in confusion, "Me?"
Luo Sanrong said seriously, "It's certainly rude to ask someone what happened when nothing happened!"
Wei Dao shrugged innocently and said nonchalantly, "Really? I'm sorry."
Wei Dao was about to leave when Luo Sanrong stopped him, looking hesitant: "Um... can I ask you something?"
Wei Dao's gaze fell on the tip of her nose, and he uttered an almost inaudible "hmm" in his throat as a response: "Ask!"
Luo Sanrong leaned closer to Weidao and whispered, "As far as I know, the person His Highness trusts most is you, and then Eunuch Ma. Doesn't he have any women he loves?"
Wei Dao hesitated for some reason, then said, "No, not even once."
Luo Sanrong straightened up and murmured, "No, there isn't any."
Luo Sanrong was still immersed in the news that Li Yin had no one he loved, and didn't even know when Weidao left.
The next day, when Luo Sanying was on duty, he heard eunuch Ma say that Li Yin had released Sun Zhong and Yue Xi from the palace. He was a little surprised. He had clearly talked about etiquette that day. He didn't know what made him change his mind.
But no matter what, Luo Sanrong was truly happy for Sun Zhong and Yue Xi, so she asked them when they would leave the palace and rushed to see them off.
Luo Sanying called Sun Zhong, and when Sun Zhong and Yuexi looked at each other, Yuexi understood what Sun Zhong meant. She left the space to them and went to the palace gate to wait first.
Luo Sanrong sincerely wished Sun Zhong well, "Lord Sun, I hope you two will be happy!"
At the same time, he did not forget to praise himself: "You are the 30th marriage I have arranged."
Sun Zhong looked into Luo Sanrong's eyes and said sincerely, "Stop trying to match people up with each other. Look around you!"
Looking at Luo Sanrong's stunned expression, Sun Zhong sighed inwardly and decided to remind her: "You don't just have one person by your side. Don't you know it now?"
After saying that, he left, leaving Luo Sanrong alone there, seemingly thinking about something.
——
In the library, Li Yin and Ji Zeming, who didn't like each other, sat at the same table for a rare occasion. Li Yin was flipping through the test papers of the candidates on philosophy found by the eunuch, with an obscure expression on his face.
Ji Zeming handed the file to Li Yin and said, "This is the list of the imperial examinations held in the past ten years, as well as the names of the examiners."
Li Yin took it and flipped through it, then sneered, "The one who wrote the paper was from the Ji family, and the one who passed the exam was also from the Ji family. They are all from the Ji family. How interesting."
Ji Zeming remained unmoved and continued to hand the files to Li Yin. "This is the policy paper and countermeasures."
Li Yin twisted the yellowed hemp paper file with his fingertips. He just casually turned over two pages and his eyes swept over the red seal at the beginning of the volume. His brows were already furrowed into the shape of a "川" (Chuan).
With a crisp "pa" sound, he slammed the file onto the desk with his backhand. His fingertips pressed hard on the cover, his knuckles turning pale from the force. A cold sneer escaped from his throat, tinged with impatience: "These things, even the annotations to the Analects are full of errors and omissions, do you really think they're essays for the palace examination?"
"That's right." Li Yin suddenly spoke, his voice so flat that no emotion could be heard, but it instantly made the old official break out in a cold sweat. "It doesn't seem to matter what I write."
"Anyway," Li Yin pressed his fingertips heavily on the family pedigree tucked inside the file, causing the pages to creak under the weight, "the final qualified candidate has already been decided by the family."
Suddenly, he looked up at Ji Zeming and said, "What do you think?"
"Your Highness asked this question," he said in a low voice. "Do you want me to speak as Ji Shi, or as Cao Zheng of the Ministry of Rites?"
Li Yin's lips curled up into a smile, and he said nonchalantly, "It seems that the answer varies depending on the situation."
"As for the Ji clan..." He paused, looking at Li Yin, "naturally, we have to consider the clan's interests and seek a result that everyone is happy with."
"But as the Minister of Rites..." He raised his hand, his fingertips landing heavily on the exam paper, "naturally, I have to correct the malpractices in a timely manner."
Li Yin said, "Are you sincere?"
Ji Zeming asked in return: "If I answer yes, will you believe me?"
Li Yin said jokingly, "If the Prime Minister hears this, something terrible will happen."
Ji Zeming didn't say anything else. He remained silent. Li Yin looked up at him and said, "I'll check it slowly. You can go out first!"
After hearing what he said, Ji Zeming was about to get up and leave when Luo Sanrong came in tremblingly holding a thick stack of files. Ji Zeming sat back down but his eyes never left Luo Sanrong.
Li Yin had been looking down at the files, so he didn't notice that Ji Zeming was staring at Luo Sanrong.
Suddenly, there was a cry of "Ouch", and the files that Luo Sanrong was holding could not bear the weight and fell to the ground. It was not until this time that Li Yin noticed the existence of Luo Sanrong. He was about to get up, but unexpectedly, Ji Zeming got there first.
Ji Zeming sorted out the files he had picked up and helped Luo Sanrong put them in their proper places. When he had nothing else to do, Ji Zeming leaned in and whispered, "Eunuch Luo, could you spare some time for me?"
Luo Sanrong hesitated and wanted to refuse, "I am..."
At this time, Li Yin called her: "Sanlang, come here..."
Luo Sanrong gave Ji Zeming an apologetic smile, turned around and trotted towards Li Yin.
Ji Zeming looked at Luo Sanrong's back, and remembered Li Yin calling Luo Sanrong "Sanlang" without paying attention to others. It seemed that he suddenly understood why Luo Sanrong came to him alone last night and said, "I don't want to leave the palace anymore."
Looking at the expressions of Li Yin and Luo Sanrong, Ji Zeming laughed at himself and left silently.
On this side, Zhao Yan'er went to the palace to find the princess as usual. Seeing her absent-minded expression, the princess told her that she was about to go to the temple to burn incense and told her that she didn't need to come to the palace to accompany her.
Zhao Yaner came to her senses. If the princess wanted to go to the temple, then she would have no reason to enter the palace. She quickly asked, "Why do you want to go to the temple? Didn't you not believe in this before?"
Ming An told her about his desire to lose weight. Zhao Yan'er repeated in disbelief, "You mean, you want to go to the temple to burn incense in order to lose weight?"
Ming An touched his face and said, "Yes, it is said that if you eat the vegetarian food prepared by the master there for half a month, your face will be half the size."
Zhao Yaner asked doubtfully, "But who told you these things? Is the information reliable?"
Ming An took out a book, put it on the table, and whispered to Zhao Yaner, "It's the person who wrote this book. He knows everything about love, especially love."
Zhao Yaner's eyes lit up when she heard this. She was just worried about not being able to pursue Li Yin, so this was heaven's help. She quickly snatched the book away and said to Min Min flatteringly, "Can you lend me this book?"
Ming An instinctively wanted to refuse, but Zhao Yan'er was too strong and snatched the book away, leaving Ming An with a bitter face...
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